


Masks and Bullets

by the_never_was



Category: borderlands 2 - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Kriegspoutssomeshitwow, continued one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-12-27 08:33:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12077442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_never_was/pseuds/the_never_was
Summary: Who likes a crazy fucking Psycho?She likes a crazy fucking Psycho.Holy shit.





	1. My Tip Goes Here

**Author's Note:**

> Did a playthrough with the spouse. I played Krieg, he played Maya. It was hot.  
> But the trailer for Krieg is what sparked this little fun bit here. 
> 
>  
> 
> Krieg/Maya/Borderlands 2 characters, etc., belong to Gearbox.

She must be fucking crazy. Had to be. Why else was she on this fucking planet getting shot at every ten minutes by a mixture of bandits and Hyperion mechs? At least she wasn't alone. Despite the others that had come with her, all breaking apart to quest on their own or helping Sanctuary or just shooting bandits to shoot bandits, Maya had one companion.

It was not who she expected.

When they were first attacked by Jack, she'd instantly banked on sticking with the chick who called herself the Mechromancer or maybe Axton just in some possibly hunky solidarity. But it strangely began to show itself that neither of them, not even the strange assassin Zer0 was going to be with her all the time, having her back the most.

Some-fucking-how it was the psycho.

A psycho Vault Hunter.

An occasionally vulgar, shouting slim vocabulary, shotgun-happy psycho.

A very tall, _extremely_ well fit psycho.

A fucking psycho named Krieg.

What the actual fuck.

And for what felt already like the thousandth time, they were charging into a bandit hold and clearing a path for some of the other Vault Hunters to finish one of Lilith's missions that the other siren had hooked in Tiny Tina for. Krieg was laughing in that terrifying way behind his psycho mask with the breather piece as he slaughtered his way with his axe through a pile of midgets, nomads, and even other psychos. Did that make him some type of betrayer or were all psychos just that insane?

Maya fired her SMG behind him, then her eyes caught the raging badass goliath at break neck speed aiming for her friendly psycho as Krieg holstered his axe and calmed the hell down for a second. She shot her fist out, pulling the goliath into a force field of her making. Krieg reared back and blasted his shotgun alongside her SMG into the screaming bandit with the creepy as fuck tiny head in the levitated force field. The psycho was laughing again as the goliath burst apart when her power quit, dropping like a giant hunk of very bullet-ridden flesh and squishing blood out everywhere.

Krieg looked over at her, his visible dark eye lit up in amusement. “Blood nugget,” he chortled, kicking an arm near him as he shook his covered face and continued forward.

His crazy hadn't necessarily bothered her before; sure, it had been very...strange to have that as a friendly element, but she'd grown used to it. Familiar with him and his mannerisms—the crazed swing of the axe and its glint, smell of gunpowder and sweat as he burnt his way through every piece of ammo he had on him, and that fucking laugh. It had unnerved the hell out of her at first, but she'd gotten to actually liking it, smirking when she heard it like a reassuring war cry.

But she was also getting familiar with other things—like the way he shouted for “organic arm jabbers” when he needed a shot and told her she wasn't stabbing him hard enough with the damn things. Or how the psycho surprised the fuck out of her by driving like a damn professional anytime they used the Catch-A-Ride. Maya actually trusted him behind the wheel despite how nuts he sounded enjoying a crash against another bandit vehicle or expertly twisting them last second into a spin, putting her rocket targeting perfectly on point of an enemy.

And despite knowing all those details, Maya realized she didn't know a single fucking thing about him. Like, why did he leave his group? Was he always alone instead? What spurred him to try Vault Hunting? She was always curious to know, but never asked. It wasn't that she thought he was stupid. Behind that dark eye was obvious intelligence, no matter how limited the words he spoke or at least said to her particularly. Besides, he had to have some brains to have come out to do what they did on his own. Krieg could easily track with the cars or point out a far shooter she was missing, usually with an awkward grab of her arm and pointing her own finger toward the jerk.

They pushed forward, cleaning house or so it felt as the bodies quickly piled up. Maya flipped into cover, sighing as a sniper shot zinged right past where her head had been. Krieg wasn't as lucky, catching a bullet in his upper right arm, blood going down his bare chest with all those damn muscles. Instead of shouting in pain, the psycho grunted and unleashed harder, punishing all of those in front of him and dropping to his knees behind cover. Maya took some potshots, not as surprised this time as he dug his fingers in and yanked the large round out of his skin.

Say what you will about psychos...but they can fucking take _pain_. Most of them.

Maya yanked out her sniper rifle off her back, clearing the last remnants farther ahead and trusting him to keep her safe. Because, crazy enough, he had so far, and even if she'd been hit, he was sure to awkwardly jab her with a needle if he had to, knowing full well she didn't like nearly as rough as he. To date each of them had only had to use that stupid, painful, fucked up but appreciated Hyperion rebuilding system to avoid death once. Hers had come when a flaming crawler had more or less decimated her, and she accepted the fragmentation state early into the fight to avoid it; the pain had been too intense. His had happened when she'd been isolated, unable to get across to where he'd ended up in his rampage, and so he'd been completely overwhelmed by a combination of rats and bandits. Still, minutes later as she waited with baited breath, he returned fresh from being re-spawned and absolutely pissed off. The psycho hadn't even used his _weapons_ after that, just his fists, and slaughtered everything around him in rage.

“You okay?” she shouted over the last gunfire from the dwindled bandit count.

Krieg quickly looked over at her with a sharp nod, yanked up an assault rifle out of the dead hands on the ground next to him, and emptied a clip right into the last nomad's nuts. Maya winced, watching the heavy bandit go down screaming and clutching at his bloody pants. Krieg threw the smoking assault rifle down and rolled his shoulders, walking past her to shoot the guy in the head once for certainty with his shotgun.

There were no more bullets.

Maya holstered her sniper rifle and stepped out into the open, watching as Krieg quickly assessed the area, no doubt glancing for better guns or ammo he could pocket. Some roasted rakk hidden, maybe. For her part she picked up some ammo to replace what she'd spent, pocketing it and grinning as she opened a chest of money. With a laugh she stuffed a wad of cash into her bra; her pockets were already full. Krieg paused in his action of stripping a body of a rocket launcher for him to examine, eye on her.

An opportunity to see if he had a humorous streak beyond being happy while killing, she decided. Maya turned and flicked the visible dollar ends sticking out of her shirt near her cleavage. “Got tipped, just like Moxxi.”

Krieg tilted his face, the mask completely hiding his expression, but a deep chuckle sounded out as he shook his head at her. Maya grinned, glad he was there and laughing at a joke. Just as she turned to look at a pistol on the ground by her feet, his voice caught her attention. She frowned a little, still smiling, as he used his fingers to mimic the sign for money.

“What?” she asked him. “You know we share. Fifty-fifty.”

The psycho nodded, but held a hand up as he dropped the heavy rocket launcher like it was a toy and came to her side. Maya looked up at the hidden face with the visible sexy dark eye, then almost gulped. Krieg moved fast, fingers shooting out and yanking a bill from her breasts. He waved it in front of her shocked but laughing face, then yanked his pants forward a little and shoved the bill against his lower stomach. He splayed his hands, that rough voice grunting out, “My tip here.”

Maya lost it, laughing to the point she almost bent over. Krieg joined her, slapping the upper part of her marked arm in camaraderie. She wiped her bright blue eyes with a happy laugh. “Damn, Krieg. That was good.”

“Yet you not dead.” He shrugged, jerking his head to the side so she'd follow him. “One day you die laughing. Dead meat laugh.”

“Hey, you're funnier than you look. Not my fault,” she argued playfully, just fucking glad she'd gotten stuck with this psycho when everyone else had taken one look at him and run the other way. Even the fucking Gunzerker Salvador with his “I'm scarier than everyone” attitude had quickly assessed Krieg's battle charge with that axe and opted out of the next mission the psycho went out on. But not Maya. Each time she'd gone with him and another at first, she's gotten to noticing that despite his insanity, the psycho was clearly rational at times and very subtly clever. He could find weak spots in armor like a pro from his past life, no doubt, and had no qualms about slaughtering anything required, even to feed them.

Though...it was true she'd yet to see behind that fucking mask of his. He kept it on even in sleep, only changing the filter on the breather when he could find replacements worthy on dead psychos or if someone happened to sell any in Sanctuary. At least, she'd never seen him without it. Maybe he got up in the middle of the night and cleaned it while she slept on, who knew. Maya figured his face was probably torn up if he never took it off or it was some right of passage thing psychos never removed.

The rest of him was surprisingly _eye_ candy, though. Fuck, the first time they'd met Moxxi, the bar owner with the huge tits had almost come across the counter in a sexual lunge for Krieg, painted nails sliding down his many, many abs as she offered him a special brew. Thankfully the big lug had just grunted and shoved the hand off with what looked like clear experience. Must have been a lot of psychos from his home always jumping him. Of course his push away did nothing to deter the woman as each time they regrouped in Sanctuary Moxxi was always open with invitations and free liquor for the psycho.

Maya had felt some weird twinge of annoyance in that instant of Moxxi touching him, mostly stemming from him being objectified in a way she herself had once been before. But she wasn't stupid, and after they ended up just silently agreeing to stick together as partners when the others drifted or regrouped for things, Maya admitted to herself that no matter his crazy, Krieg was fucking hot. At least what she could see was. Combine it with his insanity, his skill and mystery, and she was hooked even while trying her damnedest not to be that way. After all she considered the psycho a friend at this point, having had each others' backs for so long.

She was friends with a psycho. Again, not something she ever saw coming when she'd decided her fate and come to Pandora.

After turning in their last mission, they'd agreed on a relaxing walk back to the fast travel location they'd last used and get their asses back to Sanctuary. Tiny Tina freaked Maya out a bit, just making her glad the crazed preteen was on their side of things. Seriously, Krieg scared her far less even in the beginning of knowing him, that's how insane Tina was.

Maya almost tripped over a random dead psycho, lost in her thoughts, as they curved back out to avoid those damn bug nests that she hated so much. Ugh, varchids. Krieg surprisingly reached out and steadied her a second, letting go of her marked arm quickly as she caught her balance. Maya quietly thanked him, and he nodded above her with his extra boost of a foot in height. She smiled as they continued on, wondering once more if he was capable of noticing things about her the way she had about him. If he liked her as a friend, was glad she was around. If he thought she was hot, like the majority of guys in Sanctuary and even some of the bandits calling out to her before they died by her hands.

Either way the psycho seemed to treat her like kin or pack or whatever one wanted to call it from that crazy grouping mentality. It made her feel good. Special. Maya trudged with him the last half-mile back to the fast travel, damn near ready to fall over in exhaustion. When they got close enough between it and some semi-icy melted water, he stopped and bent, scooping some of the liquid up with his hands to clean his bullet wound while it healed. Benefit of being a psycho, she supposed. That and the hated and loved Hyperion system did a hell of a job boosting your regenerative powers after using it once. Maya bent next to him and took a drink from a slightly smaller separated pool, sighing at the coldness quenching her thirst.

She'd long thanked every force in the universe that her psycho companion was fairly hygienic, usually showering when they got back to Roland's place in Sanctuary and stepping out into the bunks glistening in his dirty pants. He loved the damn things, no matter how many few times she did manage to get them washed or hemmed when he let her. But overall for a psycho he was...a lot cleaner than he could have been.

Suddenly she froze, hands cupping water that drained through her fingers. Krieg had shifted and shoved the chin of his mask up enough to bare his lips, bending and getting a long drink of water. Maya quickly looked away and cupped her hands again, managing to drink the water this time instead of sitting in shock. Damn it, though. That tiny glimpse was gone the instant he came up, the mask sliding right back down and covering what had, from her peripheral vision, shown to be full, curved lips. Sexy. Maya stood up and dried her hands on her pants, trying to ignore the curiosity and desire to yank that mask right off. Even if he had a sexy mouth, he'd be lucky to have teeth, right? He was a _psycho_.

They finished the path up to the fast travel, selected Sanctuary, and braced for the fragmented transportation and reassembly on the other side. Once the familiar distorted sensation faded, Maya blinked, relieved as always the damn thing worked. Krieg tossed her a nod as he made for some vending machines. He'd probably end up at Marcus's not long after that, selling and trading. Maya waved him off, knowing he'd always find her later, and shot for the Raiders' home. She passed the even crazier Tannis, deposited some of the cash into her personal vault slot, and grabbed her usual bunk.

Much later Maya woke a bit from her sleep, hearing the familiar noise of a large muscled body dropping onto the bunk below hers. She waited several slow minutes, listening to his breathing through the mask until it evened out, and then leaned carefully over the edge of her bunk. Her blue eyes could see part of a shoulder until he shifted in sleep, and a side of his mask became visible. Maya smiled and rolled over, looking up at the ceiling with a soft smile.

She might never have expected to have a psycho companion or become friends with him, but it was one twist of fate she could live with.

 


	2. Meat-Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meat-boys and meat-girls.  
> In which Maya gets a nice surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a kink, okay? Sheesh.
> 
>  
> 
> Krieg/Maya/Borderlands 2 characters, etc., belong to Gearbox.

 

“Pretty Lady!”

Maya woke with a jolt of shock, opening her eyes to find Krieg's mask an inch or two from her face as he shook her shoulder. It wasn't the first time he'd ever called her that—it was her name to him, in a sense of nickname anymore, but the intensity of it this time was really confusing. A rumble echoed through the Raiders' building, and worried shouting broke over it from outside in Sanctuary. She leaped over the side, landing on her feet. “What's going on, Krieg?”

The psycho beckoned for her to follow, charging down the stairs past a terrified Tannis. “Red Siren's gonna make meat juice with purple fun stuff!”

Lilith. Crap. Maya broke out with him into the circle of Sanctuary, already finding other Vault Hunters clamoring to yank some weird things out of the ground with Scooter's aid. Lilith was charging up her siren power with Eridium, shouting for more. The assassin Zer0 charged past them back into the Raiders' building to comply as Maya and Krieg ran to help the others get the posts up out of the ground and initiate whatever defense the city had.

“What the hell is going on?” Maya asked Lilith, hoping the other siren would reply under all the craziness.

Lilith pointed upward. “Other Vault Hunters brought a new shield core. It had been corrupted without our knowledge, and the shields are down. We're under attack. And I'm gonna do something crazy stupid with Scooter now and save our asses.”

Maya blinked, confused as to what the hell would happen, but Zer0 returned at that time with the Eridium. Lilith absorbed it and charged up in violet colors, energy bursting out of her as she floated. Krieg stood up after finishing raising their post, his hand coming to Maya's shoulder and holding there as he watched Lilith charging.

“Get ready! We're going _up_!” Lilith shouted with a crazed laugh.

Scooter wiped his brow after taking his hat off for a second. “Sure as fuck hope this works, or we're all gonna fry.”

“Good to know,” Maya grunted, instinctively stepping closer to Krieg's huge body as more missile impacts shook the nearby buildings.

Lilith almost screamed as she brought her arms up, her power so intense and electrifying that Maya wondered if she'd ever remotely get anywhere near that level. The ground shook hard below them, knocking everyone off balance as the city began to detach from the planet's side. Maya fell to her knees at the imbalance.

Suddenly, though, Lilith's power exploded, and the last thing Maya saw was violet color blasting before she closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms.  
  


\--------------------------  
  


Well, she knew one thing. She was cold. Maya shivered harshly as she struggled to regain consciousness. Her eyes opened to find darkness all around, and she momentarily wondered if the system hadn't rebooted her this time. Was this real death?

Maya rolled a little, feeling dirt beneath her hands. Fuck, had the damn city broken apart and collapsed on top of them? If it had, many of them had probably suffocated. Eyes widening in the dark with worry, she started reaching around patting her hands out to feel for bodies, mostly for one. When her hands touched a muscled torso, Maya sighed in relief and slumped over him without caring. She could feel his heart beating below her, and that was all that mattered at the moment. She wanted her friend to be okay.

Krieg took in a sharp breath as he woke. His hands instantly came up to grab her, instinctively considering the threat of the body on him. Maya winced at his tight grip over her arm and shoulder, grunting, “It's me! Ouch!”

“Pretty! Ah,” he replied and instantly loosened his grip. Maya couldn't see him, but she felt him moving around, and the breather part of his mask bumped her cheek. “Dark. Red Siren kill us?”

“I...don't think so.” Maya tried to twist for her ECHO recorder, but his arms were still awkwardly around her. “Krieg, hit my receiver. Maybe we've got a message we missed to explain it.”

“'Kay, Pretty Lady,” the psycho said. “Maybe...bad touch.”

Maya's eyes bulged as his hand trailed down her back, feeling for it, then settled briefly over her ass while it searched for the recorder. Neither said a word, but both sucked in audible breaths. She'd frozen, much like he had. To her mixed pleasure, the psycho gave her ass a light squeeze before his fingers shifted and found it.

“Krieg,” she teased, laughing lightly under her breath.

“Huh huh. Good touch.”

Maya twisted a little while he fiddled with the recorder, chuckling at him. “The squeeze, boy. Isn't that a bad touch?”

“Ehhh. Nice meat rump,” Krieg admitted with a laugh. Maya felt her face warm.

Her recorder began playing its last message, startling them both in the dark. Lilith's voice rang out, explaining with an apology that while she'd managed to get Sanctuary's defense system to work and rose the city into the air, protecting it, the result of her power burst had been most of the Vault Hunters getting teleported into nearby regions.

“So we're not dead,” Maya confirmed as the message continued with advice on how to get a working beacon to fast travel back, considering the move had taken Sanctuary out of the network. Outlook was their best bet with its Hyperion presence to set up a new spot and reconnect it, Angel added, noting that other Vault Hunters were already en route to the area. “Okay, so we figure out where in fuck we are.”

“Cave. Old. Needs blood.”

“And it's cold.”

They remained lying there for a few moments, thinking, while Maya selfishly kept stealing his body heat to warm her slightly. And she might have kept with the plan, if it hadn't been for the damn bullymong shifting rock and letting a slight bit of light blare itself into the old den they'd been lucky to teleport into. Maya gaped as the huge animal sniffed for them, sliding into the entrance. Quickly she looked down to her right, eyes meeting Krieg's. The psycho readily shifted her, lifting her up with his broad hands over her stomach and lower back, then sat her behind him quietly. He brought his Buzz axe out and crept forward, only shouting when he got close enough to tear into the bullymong and kill the beast.

Krieg turned and waved to her. Maya came forward, nose wrinkling at the smell of the animal's loosed bowels when it had died, the sight of the psycho the last thing in its vision. Cold winter air streamed in from the outside, and she shivered harder while bringing up her ECHO interface to locate their position. Luckily _they_ hadn't been shot too far from Sanctuary's previous ground location. Nonetheless it was dark out, the sun's warmth long faded. They could get to a Catch-A-Ride, but where would they go from there to regroup with the rest if possible?

Maya sent Axton and Zer0 messages, hoping to hear back from either Vault Hunter to figure out an answer. She kept shivering as Krieg yanked the corpse toward them to block the hole. It still smelled, but thankfully the excrement was on the other side. Maya caught a twitch go through the psycho and wondered if he was as cold as she. Normally Krieg was like a torch, always hot to the touch. But he scooted closer while she had her menu up, waiting for a reply.

“You cold, too?” she asked, a bit concerned.

“Rip off stinkfur's skin suit! Stay hot in blood blanket!”

While a survival tactic, Maya didn't quite want to resort to _such_ smelly measures. “I'd rather freeze, I think. At least a little longer until I hear back, see where we can go. I hate going out at night with all the bullymongs lingering.”

Krieg shrugged in the very dim light of the cave. “Sleepy snug.”

“I might. Still feeling tired from whatever she did with her energy back there. Normally it would have been like...jumping a car, yeah? A start up jolt. But I think it was just too much energy for me at once,” Maya explained, finger drawing in the dirt next to her bent legs. She hated not being as strong as Lilith, and she'd taken pride over her time on Pandora strengthening herself.

Her receiver lit up with a reply from Axton that let her know he, the Mechromancer, and Zer0 were working their way toward Overlook, but were caught up with some bandits in the way. Salvador had apparently been the only one not teleported during the ruckus on Sanctuary. Maya glanced to her left, noticing Krieg's visible eye in the mask staring at her intently. “We can try to find them en route, or we can wait until morning. They're capable.”

“You cold,” he said without any crazy laughter. “Wait for sun. Not long. Any stinkfurs come, I murder them. Clean fur from underneath my fingernails.”

Maya raised her brows in mild surprise at his calmness; it wasn't often the psycho could speak clearly without crazed excitement in jibberish, so she appreciated the mostly clear communication going on in the situation. She nodded and replied to Axton, agreeing to meet them tomorrow close to Overlook by a Hyperion roadway hookup to enact Angel's plan. With a sigh she pushed back toward some dried, dead plant matter and shivered again. She smiled a little, thinking back over the insanity. “Thanks for waking me in Sanctuary, Krieg.”

“Meathead big missiles and danger. We fight,” he replied, arms crossing over his bent knees.

Both sat in awkward, yet comfortable silence before Maya stripped her weapons off and tried to figure a way to get a few hours of sleep before setting out. Krieg stared at her for a minute as she settled down on her side, drawing on her power to keep her a little warmer. She looked up and stared back, wondering what was going through his crazy mind. Maya didn't have to wait long. Krieg suddenly slipped out of his own weapons and slid toward her, laying on his side in front of her. He scooted closer that she could see, and a warm hand grabbed the bared part of her side and hip, squeezing and using the grip to pull her closer. Maya gave an “oof” as she was pulled tightly against his front. Both of them were shivering, but he was still decently warm compared to her.

She slowly smiled, face turned so her cheek pressed to his upper pecs. “Keeping me warm, my psycho friend?”

“Uh huh,” he softly said, sounding tired. “Body get hot close. Share meat warmth. Feel goods.”

Maya let her right arm curve under his left, holding him closer. His belt dug into her lower belly somewhat, heavy booted legs resting over hers. “Thanks, Krieg.”

“Mm-hm, Pretty Lady.”

Now she grinned a little. Warmth from his body and her power slowly thawed her frozen feeling out until she began to feel content and very drowsy. She made sure to push her power out a little, creating a small bubble around them to keep any cold wind from the semi-blocked entry from making them cold again.

And so there they were. Lying together for warmth, pressed intimately. Maya clenched her calves a little in frustration. Given her past...she hadn't really gotten a chance to be so close to a guy like this, not while she'd been controlled for so long as a weapon and a tool to create fear in others. It honestly made her feel a little more secure, even in the newness and nervousness from her crush on the big lug. Maya lightly lifted her head, pausing when his chin rested against her crown.

It was all...surprisingly peaceful.

“So this might be rude to ask, but...have you ever taken your mask off? Like, if you're lying uncomfortable with the breather pushing your neck oddly, let me know,” she whispered, feeling a bit bad since she knew he was lying down on that side of the mask.

Krieg flexed a little, hand on her back tensing. Then he relaxed again. “No. Crazy keeper hide face, mean rank and stuff.”

“So it's a psycho thing to never take it off?”

“Uh huh.”

“Okay.” Maya was a bit exhilarated to have him answering the burning questions, but she didn't want to make him homesick or anything by bugging him more. “Well, I just...you know. Wanted you to be aware it's cool if you wanna remove it and sleep. I can't see well in here, so I won't know what you look like under it. You'll still be all mysterious.”

The psycho chuckled against her, fingers lightly teasing over her back in response. “Hm. Pretty Lady wanna peek, huh.”

“So what if I do?” she asked, her own fingers tracing over his bare skin near his spine. “That so bad?”

“Nah.”

“Right.”

“But _why_ you wanna look?” he abruptly inquired, chin bumping her head roughly as he shifted.

Maya winced a little in embarrassment. “Eh. You know. I like discovering mysteries.”

He didn't say anything, just lay there against her breathing for a while. Maya sighed, debating if she should just own up to her crush at all; it was a bit weird to crush on a guy who didn't even speak well and was...uh, insane a lot. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable or lose him as a partner in all this. In fact she'd much rather just keep things as they were since they'd gotten into a good routine and symbiosis in fighting. Still, it felt strange to her that she had this urge to open up in the dark intimacy of the cave.

“I, um, might...you know. See, you're pretty cool. Crazy, insane often, but cool. And I like that. I think we work together pretty well, don't you agree?” she finally said.

Krieg hummed roughly. “Yeah. We kill good. Murder meats and skags and bugs. Get money for shiny and guns. Build bigger meat bicycle!”

“Exactly. Never expected to have a friend like you, Krieg.”

“Friend?”

Maya bit her lip, surprised by how shocked he was at the term, his voice clearly surprised. “Yeah, Krieg. We're not just partners. I think by now we're friends. You trust me to have your back and stuff, just like I do you. The others don't sync as well with us. I like you.”

“Friend.” Krieg stretched a leg, hand on her back pressing her even closer to him in a makeshift hug. “I like you, crazy Pretty Lady who is friend.”

“Good to hear, Krieg. Good to hear.”

“Other meat hunters friend?”

“Not really. I barely know them compared to you.” Maya shrugged against him. “I speak to Axton the most probably. He's just the most normal out of the rest to check in with.”

Krieg grumbled. “Turret Man. Thinks he hot. Stupid meat skag.”

Was the psycho bothered by Axton's obvious ego? A lot of the time they encountered the other Vault Hunter, Axton usually flirted a bit with Maya or any other female within his visual radius, especially those giving him appreciating glances. Ironically many of those glances were also aimed at Krieg, but usually with a hint of fear or disturbed curiosity, too. “Yeah, he does. He can be helpful, but he's...an ass too much of the time.”

“Little turret not good. Buzz axe good.”

“Damn right,” Maya smiled in agreement. “We work better. He orders too much.”

“Yeah.”

“Yep.”

“So....” Krieg coughed a little above her. “You no like Turret Man?”

“Like I said, he can be handy, but on a personal level he's...too annoying for me. He's just a bit more normal to plan with. Zer0 stays to himself a lot or with that Mechromancer chick, and Salvador's just...nuts, and not in the way you are. Not a good way I can handle,” Maya explained, eyes closed happily as she felt her body warm even more. “I get along with Axton professionally, I guess. I don't _like_ him necessarily. For one he's a know-it-all, and for two he always thinks I want him, like other women.”

“Pretty Lady is smart. Other girl meatbags stupid.”

“That's right.”

Krieg laughed smugly. “You like me, not Turret Man. Hah.”

“Hey Psycho Boy,” Maya teased, hand lightly tapping his back. “You're getting awfully smug.”

“Heh heh. Is good funny.”

“You're cute,” she laughed, the light sound fading into a small smile. “Glad you're here.”

Maya had almost drifted to sleep against his small laugh, then his subsequent silence. She felt comfortable for once, close to someone without feeling used or manipulated. Genuinely appreciated as a friend, as a person. But his voice, rough yet quiet, stirred her into awareness again. “Hey, Pretty Lady?”

“Yes?” she asked, nerves jumping excitedly.

“You have meat-boy somewhere?”

Teeth caught over her lower lip in her sensual smile. “Nope. You got a psycho girlfriend, Krieg?”

“Nuh uh,” he said with a laugh. “Stab you in sleep. Make bleedy parts and cut off fingers if mad.”

“Yikes,” Maya said, brows rising as her eyes fluttered open briefly in the dark. “That's...uh. Rough. Not much good sleep there, huh.”

“Nope. Jabbers and stabbers.”

Maya shook her head, her brow rubbing against his skin. “Insane.”

“Are psychos. All crazy. But...lots of thoughts. Kill and eat and fight other meat.”

“I don't get it. You're pretty crazy yourself a lot, but you're...still...I don't know. You function more than they do. You can take orders, follow them, have a brain behind it all. Have feelings.” Maya shrugged a little against his arm over her. “You're psycho, but different. Better.”

That familiar chuckle made her smile. “Yeah. I...try. Not easy.”

“I bet not, bud. Why, um...why'd you wanna know if I have a boyfriend?” she hesitantly asked, fingers of her left hand splaying out over his diaphragm. “I mean, it's cool. I don't have one.”

Krieg's right hand played with her hair. Compared to Lilith, Maya liked having her longer black and blue bangs with the very short back, feeling that it set her apart from the short, choppy red hair of the other siren. Her friend slowly exhaled, then grumbled. “Eh. You strong, good murder moppet, laugh like me when kill blood bags and talky robot shooters. Pretty... _prettiest_ for meat-girl. Just wondered.”

Her cheeks warmed a little. Maya was honestly grateful for his words. It only kept affirming she'd been right in opening up to the psycho, in befriending him. “Yeah, well,” she began, right hand moving up his back to cup his neck and the base of his shaved skull. “I wonder the same about you. You're seriously strong. Unique, really, among psychos. A great fighter. I trust you.”

“Trust you, too,” he said quietly.

“My name's Maya, you know,” she whispered. “But I don't mind you calling me Pretty Lady.”

“I know. But you Pretty Lady first.”

“Thanks, Krieg,” Maya sighed and squeezed against him. “You're pretty, too. In a different sort of way.”

“Nuh uh,” he countered, barking out with a deep laugh. “Not pretty. Psychos ugly. Saw head, blood eyes, sharp teeth some.”

“Yeah, well you don't have a saw blade in your head. Your eye I can see is fine.” Maya angled her face, pressing closer under his strong jaw. “You know what I mean. You're attractive. Muscled and strong. Also funny.”

“Prettier than Turret Man?” he asked with a smirking tone.

She nodded against him. “Yeah. I've not even seen your face under the mask, and I bet you are. Axton's attractive, but his ego expecting me to appreciate it and be grateful in his presence makes him uglier.”

“Heh heh.” Krieg swallowed against her forehead, his next words coming out rather slow and concentrated rather than screamed at her. “You...make...voices calm. Not so scream. Less words, less kill thoughts. Main voice... _me..._ easier to speak. Never feel before because girl.”

Maya blinked a little in the dark, completely surprised. “My presence...helps you? Keeps you a bit more grounded?”

“Uh huh. Try say better what inside.” Krieg briefly reached up and tapped his mask harshly, the sound easily discernible in the dark. “Stupid head. Too long as psycho. Want...wanna be better again for...for....”

“Why's that?” Maya asked, feeling fuzzy. She'd never had an effect like this on a guy before. It was wild.

“'Cause.” He grunted a little. “You like me even when I crazy rage. Voices strong, kill and kill and make blood nuggets. Can't speak...what want to say then. Pretty Lady smile, even if...stupid words come out.”

Maya had already caught onto something the psycho was dealing with for a while—a struggle for sanity, for normalcy in his head. It was why he'd alternate between hitting himself and hitting an enemy, why he'd shout absurdities and nonsensical stuff, then if not too excited in the moment grunt or wince in frustration because it wasn't what he _wanted_ to say. So he'd inevitably try again and again in certain times of such frustration until he'd finally shout out in an almost normal voice (for him) what he was trying to say. Sometimes it was a little shocking, hearing himself shout after a hit to the head, having some internal argument with his voice of reason. He'd just never actually explained it to her until now with these words, that her very presence was one reason he was _trying_ to fix it all, using her as a motivation and help. Maya thought back to the first time she'd seen him, how he'd struggled just speaking to her, eventually shouting for “Pretty Lady” to move to explain she was getting swarmed from behind by rats. She was honestly kind of honored to be a reason to for him to work on healing himself, and she definitely wanted to help him however she could.

“You've never hurt me during a rampage, but I want you to know something, 'kay? I'm um...look, I really am glad to help you however I can. I've seen how stressed you get sometimes communicating, and it's okay. You'll get there, Krieg. I believe in you,” she added, knowing it to be true. Sure, back when she'd first seen him lose it, she'd been absolutely terrified she'd have to kill the psycho to stay safe, but he'd only attacked their attackers, keeping her safe. He'd never once swung at her, not even when he'd cleared a Rat from knocking her down.

“You make the skin shivers,” Krieg angled his head above her, fingers on her back moving to her right arm. She couldn't stop the smile at her inner translation of making him feel good and accepted. Maybe even...aroused? But what he said after that caught her completely off-guard. “You...wanna be my meat-girl?”

Maya reared her face back in shock, her belly really warm as she looked up, barely able to see his mask at all. She called upon her power, letting her markings glow to give off a little light so she could see better. His dark eye was glittering in the dark, watching her curiously. “That...depends, Krieg. You _want_ me to be your girlfriend? Wanna be my meat-boy?”

Dark brows rose up for her to see, and his eye narrowed in amusement. “Uh huh. You hot like...pretty gun. Kill good. Make me good. Is...like guns in boxes.”

“I'm rare?” she interpreted, knowing he was at least referring to the loot crates they occasionally unlocked together and shared. “You don't care that I'm a siren?”

“Rare, yeah. Siren mean you strong, kill better. You burst bandit meat good.” Krieg's eye drifted over her face, drinking her in. “I make you good, too?”

Maya smiled reassuringly. “You know what? Yes. You do. I've not felt...so appreciated in a long time. Glad to have someone around, even doing what we are.”

Krieg's eye crinkled, looking like a smile all its own. It was so expressive. “Gonna make meat bicycle double! Ahaha.”

“Mm. So...our partnership just adds a new dimension to it.” Maya bit her lip as she looked over him. “Krieg...look, I don't know how your people...handle this stuff, but...I've not really had...an um...meat-boy before. But I know if I have one, I want to know he cares about me. Doesn't just want to have sex, okay?”

After a second of blinking, he asked his question. “Care?”

Maya realized his question wasn't one of confusion, but he sounded a little afraid of it, or at least unsure, probably in how he'd express such feelings to her. “Okay, so you like things about me, right? I would want to make sure you...care about _me_. Romantically. So that there are feelings involved, not just sex. Does that make sense? Being more than friends, liking more than that type of like.”

“You want lovey meat-boy. Poop Train Conductor.” Krieg's eye closed in a painful wince before he considered her a moment, then nodded. “'Kay. I like you, Pretty Lady. You friend and more.”

Maya smiled, extremely excited and wondering if she was remotely sane as she debated saying yes to him. “If we agree, then we're together. Just us. No other meat-girls, no other sex or love for someone else. Same for me. No other meat-boys and whatnot.”

“Yeah,” he nodded again, sounding excited as well. “Other meat wanting my meat-girl get buzz axe in face. Take arm off them, beat them. Head for ball!”

A chortle broke out of her, and she leaned forward, feeling brave as she pressed her brow to his, her fingers stroking over his shaved head. “Good. I'll burst other meat-girls, just so you know.”

“Heh heh. Good.” Krieg raised his chin a little. “You my meat-girl now?”

“So long as you're my meat-boy.”

“ _Yeah_.”

Maya laughed and buried her face against his, blushing. Krieg laughed with her, fingers curiously touching over her shoulder and still playing with her hair. “Hey Krieg...can I...kiss you? I can try with the mask just raised, if that helps you.”

“You like make kissy. 'Kay.” Krieg grunted as his hand left her hair and shot up to his mask, pushing it up off his chin and upward somewhat.

She leaned closer, the glow of her markings making his fuller lips visible. Maya blinked, eyes widening as he smiled rather...handsomely. Huh. Very nice white teeth shined at her, making her lean back a little as she tried to figure out how the psycho looked like he had a better mouth of teeth than she did. Maybe all their craziness got lucky with some genetics. Krieg's hand went back to her head, pulling her closer. Maya's eyes closed, her body tingling with power as their lips hovered near each other's before finally touching.

A low moan slipped out of her, body wriggling a little against him while the psycho made another move, angling his face a tiny bit and opening his mouth slightly as he kissed her. Maya kissed back in pleasant warmth, delighted she'd taken the chance on him and gotten a hell of a kisser in return. And he was just that; she bet on him being rather experienced in many things, given his well toned shape. Krieg groaned when her right leg raised up and wrapped over his left leg, thigh hugging his hip and his tight, sexy ass.

The kiss got hotter, warming them both, hands moving and fingers gripping. Maya briefly panicked when his tongue licked across her lips, but she parted them out of curiosity. Strangely enough he tasted like a mixture of liquor and gunsmoke and a hint of fresh mint. She'd long caught on to his gum habit. Maya's fingers loved over his head and neck, holding him close.

Krieg very suddenly yanked back with a rough rumble of frustration. Maya paused, confused as to what she'd done wrong, then gaped as the psycho yanked his mask off fully; he must have gotten annoyed at it bumping his nose and hers, then hitting his eye while kissing. She swallowed roughly, markings glowing a little brighter in her excitement as she took in his face in the subtle light: His brow was strong with masculine arched eyebrows, that she'd known, but under it was the eye she was used to seeing and his other one, the right eye, with a scar semi-across it. He had it open, looking at her. It was brown like the left, and it seemed to move okay, so it confused her that he hid it at all. Krieg's nose was longer and firm, a bit busted around the bridge where he'd obviously taken some punches in the past. His cheekbones were higher, rather pointed and strong, and his jaw emboldened the trait further. The rather sensual mouth she'd briefly seen the day before completed his face. Maya couldn't _believe_ how fucking hot he was, hiding all of it under the mask.

She realized then how nervous he actually was, eyes darting over her open mouth as she stared at him. Maya swallowed again, smiling as her fingers moved to touch his chiseled cheek. “Wow, Krieg. You're.... You are _not_ ugly.”

“You like meat face?” he asked her curiously.

It was so wild to see him _speak_ instead of just watching his eye and listening to his inflection. Maya grinned at him, giddy at that point. “Uh _huh_. Are all psychos this sexy, or just you? I mean seriously.”

He grinned at her, a mixture of smugness and excitement in the expression. Maya was just too lost in how cute his smile was. “Me special? Extra hot?”

“Yeah.” Maya leaned forward and kissed him a moment, enjoying it without the pressure of the mask. “Even if you were just regular hot, I wouldn't care. I like you anyway.”

“Fave meat slab, huh.” Krieg half-smiled lazily, fingers cupping the nape of her neck affectionately. “My meat-girl.”

She nuzzled against his face happily. “My meat- _boy_. Thanks for showing me your face, Krieg. You can put the mask back on if you want.”

“Make kiss hard.”

“It's okay. I want you to be comfortable.”

Krieg shrugged under her, nose teasing against her skin. “Is 'kay. You special, Pretty Lady.”

“Can I ask you something? Your right eye looks okay for the most part. Can you see with it?”

“See, yeah.”

“So why only have a mask with one eye?” she asked, confused. “Can you change masks so you can see better? Don't get me wrong, you do damn well without it, but.”

He yawned in her ear. “Hard say. Mask mine.”

“So it's just a special one.”

“Yeah.”

“Could always unsnap the other cover so you can see better if you want, I suppose,” she hummed, thinking aloud and imagining what he'd suddenly look like with both eyes visible through it.

“Maybe. Scary one eye.”

Maya snickered, lips brushing his again. “Like being scary, huh.”

“Make bandit meat piss self. Hah.”

“That you do, big lug.” Maya kissed him, holding his face to her as her markings' glow faded out, and she couldn't see him anymore. She was very sleepy, but wanted to savor the moment.

They made out for a while in a lazy, enjoyable way before she pressed her lips to his, then his closed eyes and moved, resting her cheek against his neck. Krieg chuckled again, kissed her forehead, and grabbed for his mask. She felt him slide it back on above her. Maya drifted to sleep, listening to his heart beat and breathing, feeling the rhythm of his pulse lulling her into a dreamland of guns and explosions and sex with a special psycho.

 


	3. One Fucking Robot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krieg likes bets. Krieg hates robots. And Krieg thinks Axton's cheating turret can fuck right off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robots suck.
> 
> Krieg/Maya/Borderlands 2 characters, etc., belong to Gearbox.

Fuck, it was amazing watching her use her power on the lizards as they went invisible and came visible again to attack them. Maya unloaded with a shock SMG, and the animals _hated_ it. Krieg laughed his way through several kills, in the best mood ever. Possibly of his life.

For once in many years, he'd kind of...sort of...gotten that rational voice in his head to work right, saying as much as he could through the crazy for her to understand. She didn't know still that he'd been way-laid by her beauty from the first moment he'd seen her, already wanting her to be in his life, helping him fight the craziness. But she knew that he liked her presence, that she helped and gave him reason to try harder, not just for that one good voice in his head.

And this pretty lady was _his_ girlfriend.

Krieg cackled as he decapitated the last lizard thing, completely happy. Sure, they'd not had sex, but he was fine with it. To be honest his inside voice was terrified of it, desperately afraid the rest of the crazy would ruin the moment by him asking her for something stupid or embarrassing instead, unable to word what he wanted to try. After all, hadn't it begged him not to use the word poop the first moment he'd seen her? And what had he done? Shouted that he was the fucking poop train conductor. Fucking crap, it was so hard a fail he'd been almost glad when she'd shot at him the first time.

But now they were here, working to the meeting point with the others. They weren't just friends or partners, working with some common goal. He, _Krieg_ , had a _siren_ girlfriend. Excitedly he swung his buzz axe one last time, splitting the hissing animal apart as it scratched down his arm and cut into him, making him bleed rather deeply. Maya stepped over, holstering her weapon, her pretty eyes seeing the bleeding with a frown.

Krieg shrugged. She knew he felt it was never a big deal, not unless it got to be too much at once. Nonetheless she yanked out her kit and brought a red needle over. He held a hand up to stop her. “Bleed fine!”

“I don't know what we're walking into with the Hyperion stuff, okay? Just...want you in the best shape for it.” Maya shifted her weight, hip swinging out deliciously and catching his gaze a second. She smiled up at him when she noticed the quick glance.

With a dramatic sigh he held his forearm out and up. Maya grinned a little and stabbed him with the needle. “Rougher. Pain is good,” he teased her like always.

“Oh, trust me, I'm thinking about how you like pain and considering it in other ways.”

His inner voice excitedly lit up, running with ideas about tie straps and bed posts and spanking. But, of course, all that came out was, “Nipple salad!”

She finished injecting his arm and returned the empty syringe to the pack. Krieg wanted to hit himself and almost did. Instead he reached out and pulled her against him, already kinda missing the cave where he'd gotten to be against her for several hours. Maybe it had been the calming dark that had helped him speak easier. He wasn't sure. Thankfully he could tell she understood he was trying to explain himself while his internal voice screamed _Tell her you want her to tie your ass down and fuck your brains out, and for fuck's sake don't give her a safety word!_

“We'll figure it out,” she said with a soft smile, stepping up on her toes to kiss his mask. “It's okay.”

Krieg almost groaned at the sweetness of it, feeling a bit shyer than usual as she squeezed his hand and stepped away to pick up some loot the animals had dropped. The way she _kissed_ him last night...umph! Fucking amazing. He walked over behind her, fingers patting her back once. “Thanks, Pretty Lady.”

Maya only smiled at him, wiggling a finger for him to follow her to the Catch-A-Ride and the meet-up coordinates. “C'mon, meat-boy. Work to do.”

“Talky robot shooters for killing!” he shouted excitedly, brain already thinking ahead. Anytime they dealt with Hyperion, robots were guaranteed to be in a fight.

“You betcha.”

Krieg paused next to the vehicle she'd spawned, a bandit runner with rockets like their usual, and eyed her as she climbed up into the gunner seat. She was so nimble, so fucking sexy as she darted up. It was something he enjoyed watching a lot, but now it was...better. He didn't have to try to hide watching the way she looked.

Maya settled in the seat, stopping her movements as she realized he'd not moved from half-climbing into the driver's seat. “What?”

“Meat rump _good_ ,” he grunted, fingers flexing in memory of how her ass felt when he'd touched it yesterday.

She laughed at him, shaking her head in good humor as she settled her fingers over the rocket controls. “Uh huh.”

“Heh heh,” he managed and climbed on in, starting the racer and speeding out. They bounced over rock and a small stream, plowing through more lizards she shot at until they hit road. Glad for the clear terrain to go faster, Krieg slammed his foot down, enjoying the slight scream from her on the wind as they flew down the road.

It took all of a few minutes to group outside the Hyperion place. Krieg stopped the vehicle a little further back to not set off alarms, hopping out and watching widely as she flipped out of her seat and landed next to him. Krieg shook his head, gripping the axe at his lower back to steady himself and not jump her for another kiss. “ _Mm_ mm.”

“You're really happy, aren't you?” she asked gently, fingers of her marked arm coming up to touch his bicep.

Krieg grinned behind the mask, craziness of course winning out as he once again told her, “I powdered my cockatiel for the rib cooking!”

“I'm taking that as a big yes,” Maya grinned up at him, looking gorgeous. “I'm happy, too. Seeing you this excited is...really nice.”

Damn it, she made him feel like a shy idiot so easily. Krieg bumped his arm to hers playfully, following behind her as she pulled her SMG up and walked low across the bridge. His eyes gravitated twice to her ass, which in moments like these was a low number. He'd gotten really good at sneaking his glances, wanting to drool at how curvy her backside was.

They quickly approached the other three who'd been accidentally teleported. The weird assassin guy greeted them with that long pointy helmet tilting, the kinda crazy girl with the robot waved, and Turret Man, as Krieg referred to Axton, winked at Maya. Instantly Krieg fought the urge to kill the Vault Hunter and serve him as stew to skags.

“Okay, we're all here. What's the plan, Angel?” Axton asked, crouching near where Maya had bent down.

Krieg gave up and sat cross legged behind her on her left side, left hand fisted on his thigh and right twitching on the pavement. The Angel woman started explaining her plan involving something with a beacon and Hyperion and stealing it from someone inside. No problem. Slaughtering his way through things for the others to get required items was almost a specialty at this point. They checked out the small facility, noting they'd need to take the crate transporter to get past the largest gate. Robots were already out in force, strolling for security, a few engineers here and there.

He yanked up his corrosive shotgun, already excited for what was coming. Even when inside he didn't necessarily want to kill some poor bastard crossing their path, the voices, the crazy took over and made it exciting, pleasurable. At least in times like these it was okay.

The assassin and mechromancer slid down to the left, aiming to flank on that side while the assassin could climb up and use his sniper rifle. Axton leapt down, already prepping to fling out his turret in the middle. Maya gestured and flung over the right side of the tubing and road, landing on her feet behind some crates and equipment. Krieg followed, landing next to her with a bit of a thud.

She looked up at him. “I've got your back. Do a mixture on this one. Lots of the robots here have the blade arms, so shoot first before you rage out.”

He nodded, saying lowly near her ear, “Fifty talky robot shooter kills, easy. Get kiss.”

“A wager, huh.” Maya winked at him. “All right. You get a peck for twenty, tongue for fifty. I'll be watching. Have fun out there, Krieg.”

“Gonna taste your tongue, Pretty Lady,” he chuckled, then slid down the equipment, waiting for the signal of the turret shooting. The moment he heard it open up, he pushed forward, shotgun blasting and acidic burns tearing through all kinds of robotic guards.

As a five person team, they tore the place apart, decimating all that Hyperion could throw at them in the area. Krieg shot his way through twenty-five robots before he brought the buzz axe out, rampaging after Maya had used her power to stop one engineer from flanking him and exposing herself to a large robot's targeting. She shouted out as she slid into different cover, barely missing a rocket aimed for her. Krieg lost it, remembering to holster his gun instead of throwing it, and charged the automaton, completely numb to any damage he was receiving as he chopped it into pieces, raging while it mechanically screamed at him. Krieg stomped on the head piece of it before running off to take out another large robot before the exhaustion hit.

He doubled back a little, dodging Axton's turret for a second until he found Maya taking pot shots behind her cover. Krieg slid down next to her, eye wide. She was down, in that state he knew meant she was about to go through the fragmentation process to save her life. He'd done it once; it was worse than the fast travel system, feeling like a whole new rawness that left him uncomfortable and even crazier. He quickly grabbed his pack off his hip and ripped out a needle, pricking her arm and pushing the plunger down, hoping he was fast enough. Maya gasped, blood trickling over her lip as her right hand clutched her pained stomach.

“You 'kay, meat-babe, you good! Feel good needles!” he encouraged as he removed the needle, tossing it away from him.

Maya nodded, breathing a bit heavily as she still winced. “I...I'm okay. Not spawning.”

“Look! Talky robot beatdown,” he pointed down where he'd torn apart the one that had assaulted her. “Make it scream _good_.”

“I heard it,” she sighed, smiling a little as she picked her gun back up. “I'm boosting back. Go ahead. Thanks, Krieg.”

“Gonna put my pain in their souls!” he shouted and stood up, running forward into the fight again with his shotgun front and center.

A short while later the docking was cleared. The Vault Hunters regrouped to check in with Angel and see who needed patched up. Maya looked much better despite the bloodstain on her shirt. As Krieg turned around, looking for her, she walked up to him near Axton and Zer0, a smile on her lips. “Thanks, my meat-boy.”

“Uh huh.”

The others paused in discussion to stare at them, debating. Krieg stared Axton down as hard as possible, making the other man break his gaze and look away. Satisfied, Krieg brought some fingers down her back. They walked behind the other three up to the transfer mechanism, waiting as it slid the long tube across for pick up on their end. When they climbed inside, Axton hit the switch and it moved back the other way. Maya stepped up on her toes, gun in her hands, and whispered below Krieg's ear, “You're at thirty-five. No tongue yet.”

He burst into a deep chuckle, brows raising. Krieg pointed as the mechanism slowed to a stop, gesturing to the new area. “More talky bots, acid love!”

“Oh, we'll see,” she teased, stepping away to follow the rest off and down the ramp.

Krieg grinned after her, completely stoked to get the chance to hopefully prove her wrong.

 

\------------------

 

After several more Hyperion robots and guards, the real fight was with a damn thrasher thingy, the screaming tentacle ground worm that _beat_ their asses hard. The mechro-girl went down for the system to respawn her while Zer0 struggled in the large open area. Krieg had been at his best and craziest, shotgun and buzz axe swapping a few times while he kept himself cleverly inserted between the biggest beast and Maya as much as possible.

Still, after all of it, he was short on his count of robot kills for the bet. By one.

One. Robot.

Krieg walked over and kicked the head of the robot corpse, shouting in a bit of anger. He'd been so fucking close, too. Turret Man's turret had taken the _last_ one after he'd whittled it down at the _last_ second, and Krieg was tempted to walk over and take Axton's head for a second place prize in annoyance. While the ex-soldier grabbed the beacon thing Angel talked about, Maya came to his side, a half-smile of understanding on her face. Krieg growled and kicked the robot again in frustration.

“Pretty sure it's dead, idiot,” Axton sneered behind him.

Krieg raised his head up, neck cracking.

Maya rolled her eyes and patted Krieg's arm. “We had a wager going, Axton. He knows it's dead. He's pissed because he was _very_ close to a win.”

“Ah. Didn't know a bandit was capable of counting,” Axton replied, once more behind Krieg so the psycho couldn't see him.

“Yeah, shove it and let's go. We'll follow to Overlook, get this shit squared with Angel, and get back to Sanctuary.” Maya crossed her arms, eyes narrowing on the man behind Krieg. “And don't agitate Krieg. He might just kill you one day for giggles.”

Krieg smiled behind his mask, but slowly turned his face over his shoulder, emphasizing all the crazy murder thoughts into a single look from his eye. The other Vault Hunter actually paled, awkwardly laughed, and turned away.

Maya chuckled and turned him fully to follow, hand sliding up on his lower back. “I saw the turret take the last shot. It was so stolen.”

“Stupid little shooty thing. Next time _boom_.” Already he was imagining blowing the damn turret up with glee.

“But, seriously, I...I'll give you this win.”

Krieg paused, brow raised while the others stepped back up the ramp to the transfer mechanism to hitch a ride, the beacon with them. She was going to let him win? Count the last one since a single bullet had taken all his work? Well, well. She was _glorious_.

Maya took his hand and climbed up the ramp, tugging him along behind her. They followed the rest back to the road, stopping to grab some loose cash or consider a gun on the ground briefly. When both were content, they climbed back up to the car; the bandit truck the others used had already passed by. Maya touched his chin, fingernail tapping the mask as she waited with a smile. Krieg laughed, yanked the thing up, and wrapped his hands around her as she leaned up to kiss him.

Damn, it felt so good again. She was soft and warm against him, lips expertly seducing his crazed mind into a state of happy sedation. He felt calmer, despite being sexually excited. Krieg swept his tongue in her mouth, enjoying her taste briefly before they both sighed and parted. His mask stayed up another second for her to see him grin, then he yanked it back down and gestured to the car.

Losing, even to a stupid turret, wasn't so bad.

 

 


End file.
